The furore over the latest musings of the professional loudmouth Donald Trump has provoked an ironic response from those residing just across the pond from the US.

Those who venture onto the British government’s official petition website will find that at least 340,000 have signed a petition to block the American presidential candidate from entering Britain, at least as of Wednesday night.

At the end of October, and presumably with a lighter schedule, Abbott spoke at the Second Annual Margaret Thatcher Lecture at the Guildhall in the City of London, the seat of the shady body that runs the capital’s financial borough.